The magazine 21 which the Province of Spain founded in 1918 under the name of Social Reign of the Sacred Heart, publishes its 1,000th edition this July. It is a great source of pride and satisfaction to have reached this round figure and to have overcome many vicissitudes. We are only two years away from our centennial.
When the magazine appeared in May 1918, Social Reign was one of many devotional publications published in Spain at that time. The magazine began as an organ of the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in homes. But soon its social dimension showed, its accessible language, its interest in the daily issues of life, its eagerness to offer a careful presentation ... which continue to characterize the publication today. From the hand of Fr. Jose Luis Castilla and of other religious plus a layman who have directed it in these 98 years, Social Reign of the Sacred Heart (as it was called for years, although many people have always considered "the Journal of Father Damien" ) reached near record subscriptions of 100,000. However, the rapid evolution of Spanish society and the processes that have been launched following the advent of the Internet and the impact of new technologies in the written media, have been reducing that figure. Still, about 14,000 families continue to confide in us through the annual payment of the subscription to the hard copy. 3,000 people on Facebook and 4,000 on Twitter follow us daily. Monthly, there are 33,000 visits to our web site and our blogs.
Our loyal subscribers receive at home a monthly publication of clear Christian identity, offering its particular vision of today’s happenings in the light of the gospel, with a careful design and an open, pluralistic editorial line, aimed to denounce injustices and to take account of the Good News. Doing that over the signature of the major writers of our time allows us to achieve high impact and prestige in the most varied fields of Church and society. The articles, interviews and reports, rewarded on many occasions by agencies such as UNICEF and the European Union have most often highlighted the excluded, the exploited, those hunted down, those sexually violated ... victims, favored by the God’s Love that Jesus of Nazareth made transparent, in line with the Congregational charism: "to contemplate, live and proclaim God's Love in the World". And Damien of Molokai continues to show up, explicitly or implicitly, on each of the pages of 21.
Thus we come to this number 1,000 and we hope to continue serving evangelization in the coming years, attentive to the signs of the times, faithful to the Congregational charism and committed to our vocation to be speaker of God's heart.
María Ángeles López Romero
Editor of the magazine 21
Link to magazine 21
Link to the Iberia web site presenting 21
06/30/2016